Why use an old Radio Shack Micronta 22-208 analog multimeter on your vintage radios and Ham radios? 

A wonderfull trip down memory lane... I have one like this in my workshop and it is still in use!

i have a 22-214....first meter at around age 11.lost the original...purchased one recently,good memories

I've been looking for a 22-208 for a while for my Micronta video, seems they were quite thin on the ground in the UK. Ended up making the video with a few missing, I'll need to do a part 2 once I've got these. Looks like a really nice meter, akin to the 22-210 and 22-220

It's indeed more satisfying to see a needle move while turning that potmeter, instead of irritating jumping numbers. And no need to press min / max /average buttons to get a quick indication of the range of slow fluctuations. Some digital meters got an analogue alike bar on top of the numbers, to mimic the advantages of the analogue meters. But that was not so satisfying ;)

I have one of these.... still MINT!!! I had no idea they are that old already. All I know is that it has it's uses as you say and I use it for the same purposes. It's actually a really nice meter. I also have the classic Simpson 260. You can't be in electronics and NOT have one, it's a hard requirement. 😁

I have one 22-208 and one 22-220a both in perfect working conditions. Very good meters but my every day multimeter is a Fluke 87V.

I’m in Vietnam currently & needed to get a multimeter quickly. After a few unsuccessful attempts at local hardware shops, they pulled a similar one out of some dusty shelf 😄 scared me a little bit, as I used only digital ones, but turned out to be just fine & I measured V and mA I needed just fine 👏

The Radio Shack ones were not just VOM's they were FET input. Much higher input impedance on volt ranges.

I gave mine to a student 20 years ago. Maybe, you got mine ! 😅

Hi, nice looking meters. One remark. I have 2 analog FET meters, but they have also for AC Voltage a high impedance. This Micronta has 10k/V for AC. The meters I have are Philips PM2503 and Metrawatt MA 4E.

i use my simpson 260 and my triplett 630 all the time I love the oldies. The old Triplett will do 6000v. Handy for RF amplifiers

I still use a Triplex VOM.

Ive had several 208's. Decent meter, I prefer the 210/220 myself. Have fun.

Reasons he stated are why I still have a warm feeling for analog meters. But..I did find it necessary to get an actual AC voltmeter that goes down to 3 mv scale. Ended up with Heath AV2, an AV3 and a Motorola 1051. Was given 1 to fix the 2 that I bought that didnt work.

Hi I have a number of AVO meters in the shack as well as Micronta fet meter and others. Great for testing large electrolytic caps by using ohms range. A good needle kick with a slow fall back. Can of course follow varying conditions that a digital sampler cannot follow. Transistor junctions can be safely checked on x100 Ohms range. 60% deflection for silicon, 80% for germanium junctions. 73 Dave G4BTI. Analog anarchist hi hi.

👍👍

Never understood the cult like following of the Simpson 260. I've had several 260s and I've also had the Micronta 22-210 which is similar to the Simpson 260. IMO the Micronta is every bit as rugged as the 260 of the same era, and has a couple of advantages. 22-210 has a continuity beeper. 260 does not. 22-210 can use standard test leads, 260 requires special and expensive ones. Simpson 260 case tends to crack and break, 22-210 case is made of a more resistant plastic. 260 is WAY overpriced, then and now, 22-210 is not, even when new. My Micronta 22-210 provided many years of dependable service. In the mid 1980s and throughout the 1990s it went to many remote transmitter sites in broadcast engineering. It was accidentally dropped in the snow, kicked a few times, fell once, and had the fuses blown a couple of times. About 10 years ago, I gave it to a good friend and it is still working well for him today.

hey man did you just show your address? might want to edit that bit out if you did.

those Fet meters are inaccurate i heard